Rain Angel
by poplarleaves
Summary: It's a rainy day, and May's stuck at the Pokemon Center without an umbrella. When Drew shows up with an umbrella, willing to accompany her for the rest of the day, she accepts. One-shot. Contestshipping. Fluff. Written for Valentine's Day.


Drip. Drop. Splash.

May held her hand out from underneath the edge of the roof. She stood beside the door to the Pokemon Center while other trainers entered and exited the building. She had planned to go shopping today, but without an umbrella, she was doomed.

With a sigh, she leaned against the wall. It was so boring in Petalburg that she couldn't understand why tourists even bothered to come. Sure, her dad's gym was there, but it wasn't like trainers had to stay for months on end. The problem was that that was precisely what they often did.

_Argh_, why did it have to rain today, right on the day she had off from any practice or Contests? And there were barely any clouds, too. She frowned at the sky.

Drip-drop-splash.

Footsteps neared. May didn't bother to look up, because she just _knew_ that it was just another trainer, she just _knew_ that they would have no relevance in her life, and--

"May."

A gasp flew from her lips as she looked up. For a moment she couldn't believe her eyes. But there he was. There he was, in the flesh, the real deal, not some fantasy conjured in her mind. Green hair, green eyes, and a smirk arrogant enough to top Gary Oak's.

"Drew!" she exclaimed.

"Hey." He chuckled. "Long time no see. Surprised?"

"N-no," she stammered defensively.

Then she noticed an umbrella in his hand. He seemed to notice her noticing his umbrella. "Need it?" he offered.

"Uh, yeah..."

"How about I share it with you?"

May blinked. Had he always been this charitable? "Okay," she said, before her brain could catch up.

Before she knew what was going on, for some insane reason he was walking beside her, shielding her with his umbrella, and smiling. There was something seriously wrong with the picture. For one, Drew wasn't the helping kind of person. And two, he wasn't smirking.

"Why aren't you smirking?" May asked.

Now Drew smirked. "What? Smirking? Have I ever smirked at you?"

"Ugh," groaned May, hitting herself on the forehead. "Nevermind."

Drew ignored the last statement and continued. "What did you plan on doing today?"

She sighed. "Shopping. I don't have anything better to do besides train my Pokemon, but it's raining and Dad's using the gym, so that's out."

Somehow, as she said it, Drew's smirk seemed even more satisfied.

"All right. I'll take you to the mall."

"_What._" May stopped in her tracks. Drew stopped with her. "You are _not_ coming with me to the mall."

"I'm the one with the umbrella, aren't I?" He waved the handle at her smugly.

May opened her mouth to say something, then closed it.

"Exactly."

_**~~roses~~**_

She wasn't really sure how she had ended up like this. Drew was walking beside her. With her. A hint of a smile on his face.

And they were at the local Petalburg mall.

"Why are you here, anyways?" she asked, somewhat curiously, as they browsed the aisles in the bookstore. "I thought you lived in Littleroot."

"Yeah. I usually stay with my cousins, but none of them are trainers or Coordinators. What can I say? It gets boring. So I'm staying here for the moment."

_So you don't think I'm boring?_ she wondered silently.

Drew had long since abandoned his umbrella and was simply walking by her side. The two of them drew some looks from fellow Coordinators nearby, but they were simply ignored. At least, May hoped so.

"Drew, I think some people might take this the wrong way," May said warily.

"Take what the wrong way?" His smile, when he turned to her, was like a 5000-watt lightbulb.

"You... with me...?" she quavered. "Alone?"

To her shock, she felt his arm close around her waist, and he slowly, gently pulled her closer to him. May wasn't sure, but she suddenly felt like hyperventilating. Drew's smooth voice whispered in her ear. "Well, what do you think?"

"I-I... I..."

_Obviously, he's had some experience in this area_, the last rational part of her mind told her. The rest of her mind was floating in a pink cloud.

"No objections?" His face held something between a smirk and a smile. May was confused.

"I'm confused."

"Good." For a second, it looked like he was about to say something else, but stopped. He frowned slightly, tilted his head-- and then looked away.

May swallowed nervously. Of course, Drew had always made her feel somewhat nervous, but he'd never been so close before. He had only caught her alone a few times, rival-to-rival, but those times he had simply been calm, cool, and collected. This was different. This was... what would she call this? This Drew was so _interesting_.

She made an attempt to ignore the odd, fluttery feelings in her stomach. "S-so... um..." At random she picked a book from the shelves. "Ever read this one before?"

"_A History of Modern Pokemon_?" Drew gave her a bemused look. "You just picked that one at random, didn't you? Just to make conversation."

"Well..." May shoved the book back into the shelf, feeling somehow cheated, "are you entering the next contest?"

"Yes." Drew seemed relieved that she had chosen a safe - safe? - topic for them to discuss. "Roselia and Flygon. The two of them have been training for it for weeks."

"Then why do you seem to have the day off?" May said suspiciously.

"It's for you."

"Wha--" she began. "What do you mean?"

Drew nearly smirked again. "Do you happen to know," he said slowly, "what day it is today?"

"Um." May looked down at her digital watch. "February fourteenth?"

Then the realization came flooding in. Or rather, it hit her.

_Ohmigosh._

And then there was no more room for thoughts, because Drew's lips met hers.

_**~~roses~~**_

Several minutes later, May was clinging to Drew as they walked outside, skirting the puddles and dodging splashes from passing cars.

She was laughing. Drew was laughing. And the sun was shining.

Making out in the bookstore had been decidedly odd. She had been startled to say the least, and unsure of... what to do. The first kiss had been awkward.

But that didn't mean that the others had to be awkward, too.

"Drew," she said, half to him and half to the ground, "have you kissed before?"

"Now I have, haven't I?"

May blushed. "I mean before today."

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Does it matter?"

"Yes." She stopped and looked into Drew's eyes. He flinched.

"Yes. I have."

"I thought so," she said in a low voice.

"May, it doesn't matter."

She bit her lip. "Yeah. It doesn't."

She heard him sigh from beside her. She looked back at him and saw, to her own disbelief, that he was holding his face in one hand. "Drew?"

"May..." he looked up, his green eyes the color of pain, "it doesn't matter."

"It doesn't."

"Yeah." He still didn't move.

May walked back to him and stopped a foot away. It was odd, because she wanted to hug him and tell him it was all right and that he didn't have to angst about it because it didn't matter anyways. She knew he shouldn't angst about it. It was... trivial. It didn't matter.

"Drew," she said in a low voice, "it doesn't matter. At all."

Silence from him.

"Drew." She tried again. "You're just being self-centered."

Silence again.

"You're telling yourself that you should've known better and that you should've been able to do better for my sake or for whatever lame reason you came up with. That kind of self-pity is just a form of pride. None of us are perfect. Right? So you don't have to be perfect for yourself, for me, for anyone. And if you come up with another stupid argument, I'm going to crush it."

Silence. Then, "This is so weird."

"What?"

"You're teaching me psychology."

He smiled a smile that was almost real. His eyes gazed at her, his green eyes, the color of poison and envy and pain. May gazed up at him, unsure, debating with herself. She stepped toward him, one foot nearly touching his. Slowly, she slid her arms around his neck, pressed her face into his shoulder, and held him tightly.

"Drew," she whispered. "You're not perfect. And you don't have to be."

She felt his own arms close around her waist, not demanding, not light, but there. For a long time they held each other, unmoving, not wanting to move.

Drew's voice was barely a whisper when he said, "I made it rain today."

"What?"

"I made it rain." He pulled away from her a little to look at her. "I made it rain just so I would have an excuse to be with you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Why don't you ask all of your friends where their Water Pokemon went?" A light, teasing smile played about his lips.

May stared at him. "You didn't."

"Oh, yes I did. You can call Misty if you want."

A smile of utter bewilderment slowly spread over her face even as he took her face in his hands. "Why?" she whispered.

"Because." He tilted his head and kissed her again. "That's why."

* * *

From the Authoress:  
Alright, I know the entire thing did NOT make any sense, did NOT have a plot, anything. Fluff fic. A friend of mine gave me this idea. And another friend of mine added to this idea (aka the last section or two). So I wrote the idea into reality.

I think this characterization of May - somewhat curious, a little shy, fairly innocent - is more accurate than my other characterizations of her.

And the last part is kind of sad, isn't it? I didn't plan it that way at all. It was supposed to be just happy thoughts all the way through. I think Drew must have absorbed some of my emoness...

Yes, this is written for Valentine's Day, on Valentine's Day.


End file.
